Tips, updates, and guides from the JellyWatch team.
Fail2Ban is not enough in 2026. This advanced security guide covers CrowdSec (collaborative IPS with crowd-sourced blocklists), GeoIP country blocking, rate limiting at the reverse proxy level, container security best practices, and real-time intrusion detection for your internet-exposed Jellyfin server.
Gelato is a Jellyfin plugin that bridges the Stremio addon ecosystem into your server. Search Stremio catalogs from the Jellyfin UI, auto-import content via scheduled tasks, and stream without downloading. This guide covers installation, addon configuration, and how it transforms Jellyfin into a hybrid local + streaming platform.
Jellyfin 10.11 moved everything to a single SQLite database managed by EF Core. Over time, this database grows, fragments, and slows down. This guide covers VACUUM, integrity checks, WAL management, activity log cleanup, and automated maintenance scripts to keep your server fast.
Uptime Kuma is the most popular self-hosted monitoring tool in 2026. This guide shows how to monitor your Jellyfin server health endpoint, set up instant alerts via Discord, Telegram, or Ntfy, and build a status page your users can check.
Direct Play uses zero CPU. Transcoding can max out your server. This guide explains every playback method in Jellyfin, why transcoding happens, how to identify it, and how to force Direct Play on every client for the best quality and lowest server load.
Not everyone has a home server. A VPS from Hetzner (€4.50/month) or Contabo gives you a dedicated Jellyfin instance with a public IP, 1 Gbps bandwidth, and 24/7 uptime. This guide covers VPS selection, Docker deployment, storage mounting, the no-GPU reality, and when Oracle free tier is enough.
Go beyond basic webhooks. Build a Discord or Telegram bot that shows what is currently playing on your Jellyfin server, lets users search your library, request media, and receive rich embed notifications with poster artwork - all from a chat message.
Jellyfin handles music libraries alongside video - but getting the best experience requires the right folder structure, metadata plugins, mobile clients, and scrobbling setup. This complete guide covers everything from FLAC organization to Last.fm integration.
Emby and Plex are the two biggest commercial media servers in 2026. This honest comparison covers pricing, hardware transcoding, mobile apps, privacy, Live TV, and which one deserves your money - or whether you should skip both for Jellyfin.
